Sweet Sloppy Joe Cornbread Casserole: Our Easy Family Favorite

This is one of those dinners that hits every single time in our house.

It is basically a sweet sloppy joe casserole with cornbread baked right on top. The meat is saucy, a little sweet, and ridiculously easy to throw together—and the cornbread turns it into the kind of dinner you scoop into a bowl and eat with a spoon.

The best part? Most of the recipe uses actual measurements. The ketchup and brown sugar do not.

Those two ingredients are measured by love.

If you want it more tomato-y, add more ketchup. If your family likes it sweeter, add more brown sugar. This is not the recipe where I am going to tell you to dirty another measuring cup just so we can pretend I measured it exactly.

Watch Me Make It

What You Need

• 2 pounds ground beef

• 2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix

• 2 eggs

• 2/3 cup milk

• Ketchup, to taste

• Brown sugar, to taste

• Cooking spray for the casserole dish

How to Make Sweet Sloppy Joe Cornbread Casserole

1. Brown the Ground Beef

Brown 2 pounds of ground beef in a skillet until it is completely cooked, then drain off the excess grease.

In the video I use one of my favorite grease strainers. It is one of those little kitchen things that makes a messy job much easier.

2. Mix the Cornbread Topping

While the meat is cooking, combine the two boxes of cornbread mix with 2 eggs and 2/3 cup milk. Mix it until everything is combined, then set it aside.

As Lauren always says: mix it, mix it, mix it.

3. Make the Sweet Sloppy Joe Sauce

Now grab your ketchup and brown sugar. This is the part you measure by love.

Start with enough ketchup to make the beef nice and saucy, then add brown sugar until it tastes as sweet as your family likes it. Mix the two together before adding them to the meat, or add them right into the casserole dish. Either way works.

And if you cannot find the brown sugar scoop? Apparently an ice cream scoop works just fine. Ask me how I know.

4. Put Everything in the Casserole Dish

Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray a casserole dish so the cornbread does not stick.

Add the drained ground beef to the dish, pour in your ketchup-and-brown-sugar sauce, and mix until all of the meat is coated.

5. Add the Cornbread on Top

Pour the cornbread mixture over the sloppy joe meat and spread it as evenly as you reasonably can.

It does not need to be perfect. It just needs to be on top.

6. Bake

Bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes, or until the cornbread topping is baked through.

Want It Extra Saucy?

If you scoop it out and decide your family wants more sauce, just mix a little more ketchup and brown sugar together, warm it up, and drizzle it over the top.

That is the nice thing about this recipe. You can make the sauce as sweet, tangy, light or saucy as you want.

How We Serve It

Best eaten with a spoon. I am not even going to argue about that one.

You get the sweet sloppy joe meat and soft cornbread together in every bite, and it is one of those easy family dinners that does not need to be fancy to be really, really good.

A Family Favorite for a Reason

I love recipes like this because they are simple, filling and forgiving. You do not need perfect measurements. You do not need a pile of fancy ingredients. You brown some meat, mix a few things together, cover it in cornbread and put it in the oven.

And somehow it comes out delicious every single time.

If you make it, tell me whether your family went heavier on the ketchup or the brown sugar. Around here, measuring by love is part of the recipe.

— Vee